Panacea (Part One)

Two hours before Xia Lun woke, in Herentingen's Upper City.

Rain poured down. White-flecked water rushed along the avenues and drained into gutters on either side. Efficient city planning kept it from pooling near the magnificent manors.

Feilier stood before a floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the filthy lower city at the foot of the hill. Its houses, thrown together from rotting planks, looked like dregs floating in clear water.

Even in this post-apocalyptic age, the social hierarchy remained as rigid as it had been before the apocalypse.

Feilier sighed almost imperceptibly. She remembered fleeting fragments of her difficult childhood and could dimly recall living in conditions just as wretched.

Footsteps approached behind her. Then the City Governor spoke. "Your Excellency, you should see this."

Feilier frowned slightly and turned. The City Governor bowed respectfully and held out a ring.

She took it without much interest, but when she looked closely, she froze. A rush of joy surged through her.

She knew this ring. It was her younger sister Abby's ring!

Prime had lied. Her sister wasn't dead at all!

Her sister had come to find her!

"Where's my sister?" Feilier asked urgently. "Bring her here, quickly!"

But as soon as the words left her mouth, unease crept in.

Did Abby still blame me?

Would she forgive me?

Countless thoughts passed through Feilier's mind before she finally smiled.

Whatever happened, they were sisters. She would have to face Abby.

Then the City Governor spoke with visible difficulty. "Your Excellency, Princess Renee Guewen gave this ring to the guards. She said she wants to see you."

"Renee?!" Feilier cried, losing her composure.

Renee had come to her doorstep!

Can I really carry out the Duke's orders?

A dozen or so minutes later, Renee followed the guards through the towering walls of